Yang Xinhai
|death place = Luohe City, Henan Province, China |job = Itinerant worker |pathology = Serial Killer Serial Rapist Family Annihilator Mass Murderer Robber |mo = Bludgeoning Rape |victims = 67 killed 5 attempted 1 attempted rape 1+ robberies |time=1996 - August 8, 2003 |charges= 67 counts of murder 23 counts of rape 1 count of attempted rape |sentence=Death |capture=November 3, 2003 |status = Deceased }} Yang Xinhai, a.k.a. "The Monster Killer", was a prolific Chinese robber-turned-serial killer, serial rapist, mass murderer, family annihilator, and robber. Background Yang was born on July 29, 1969, in Zhumadian, Henan Province, China. His family was the poorest in the village and he was the youngest of four children. He was known for being a rather clever and introverted child. At the age of 17, he dropped out of school and began traveling across the country, working as a hired laborer. At some point in his life, he became a robber. In 1996, he attempted to rape a woman in Zhumadian and was sentenced to five years in prison. Serial Killings, Arrest, and Execution After his release, he met a woman who would later become his girlfriend, but she eventually left him because of his prior offenses. As a result, he began serial killing as a way to get "revenge" on society. Yang's first known murder victims were an unnamed couple. He broke into their farmhouse and brutally killed them by bludgeoning them to death with an unspecified object. He then continued to murder people for three years. His most infamous familicide was of the Zanwhei family. He brutally bludgeoned farmer Liu Zanwhei to death, along with his mother, wife, da.ughter, and son, using a hammer. The grandfather, Liu Zhongyuan, survived because he had slept in a different house during the night of the murders. After killing the family, he buried the hammer and threw the bloody clothes into a river. Yang became the prime suspect in various murders in three different provinces: Anhui, Shandong, and Henan. Police eventually tracked him down, and he was arrested on November 3, 2003, in a nightclub of Cangzhou, Hebei province. In prison, with his DNA matching samples found at the crime scenes, Yang confessed to the string of killings and was convicted of 67 murders and the rape of 23 women. He also met with other criminals in prison and when questioned about why he killed so much people, he simply replied, "Killing people is very usual, nothing special." The media gave him the nickname "The Monster Killer" due to the brutality of the murders. Yang was eventually sentenced to death on February 1, 2004, and was executed on February 14 by a single shot to the head, aged 35. The identity of many of his victims and other details about the murders were not disclosed to the public. Modus Operandi Late at night, Yang would enter his victims' homes and brutally bludgeon the occupants to death with various objects, notably axes, hammers, and shovels. Some of his victims were entire families. The women he killed were also raped before being murdered. As a forensic countermeasure, he would wear different clothes and large shoes during each murder. He killed all of his victims in the poor rural areas of the provinces of Anhui, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong. Known Victims *Unspecified dates: Numerous unspecified robberies *Unspecified date in 1996, Zhumadian, Henan Province: Unnamed woman *September 19, 2000-August 3, 2003: Killed at least 67 victims within a three-year span. Known ones are: **2000 ***September 19, Zhoukou, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***October 1, Fuyang, Anhui Province: Three unnamed victims **2001: ***August 15, Luohe, Henan Province: Three unnamed victims ***Fall, Zhoukou, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***Winter, Pingdingshan, Henan Province: An unnamed couple **2002: ***January 27, Kaifeng, Henan Province: Three unnamed victims ***June 30, Zhoukou, Henan Province: Three unnamed victims ***July 28, Nanyang, Henan Province: Four unnamed victims ***October 22, Zhumadian, Henan Province: An unnamed family ****The unnamed father ****The unnamed mother ****The unnamed daughter, 6 ***November 8, Zhumadian, Henan Province: Five unnamed victims ***November 16, Kaifeng, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***November 19, Luohe, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***December 1, Zhoukou, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***December 6, Zhumadian, Henan Province: The Zanwhei family ****Liu Zanwhei ****The unnamed mother ****The unnamed daughter ****The unnamed son ****Liu Zanwhei's unnamed mother ****Liu Zhongyuan, 68 ***December 13, Xuchang, Henan Province: An unnamed couple ***December 15, Fuyang, Anhui Province: Three unnamed victims **2003: ***February 5, Xuchang, Henan Province: Four unnamed victims ***February 18, Zhoukou, Henan Province: Four unnamed victims ***March 23, Shangqiu, Henan Province: Four unnamed victims ***April 2, Heze, Shandong Province: An unnamed couple ***August 5, Xingtai, Hebei Province: Three unnamed victims ***August 8, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province: Five unnamed victims On Criminal Minds *Season One **"The Fox" - While Yang has yet to be directly mentioned or referenced on the show, he appears to have been an inspiration for Karl Arnold - Both were prolific serial killers and family annihilators with some sexual element in their crimes (Arnold would molest the children of the families he slaughtered while Yang would rape the women of the families), and were triggered by the rejection of a woman (Arnold's wife left him while Yang's girlfriend left him). Karl Arnold also appeared in Season Five. Notes *This article uses Chinese naming customs. The surname is Yang, not Xinhai. Sources *Wikipedia's article about Xinhai *Murderpedia's article about Yang *Prezi presentations of Yang's life: **Presentation by an unknown author **Presentation by jsosa 3hunna **Presentation by Alicia Marshall *China Daily's article about Yang Category:Real People Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real Serial Killers Category:Real Life Rapists Category:Real Family Annihilators Category:Real World Criminals Category:Real Life Mass Murderers Category:Real Life Child Killers Category:Incarcerated Real World Criminals Category:Deceased Real World Criminals Category:Executed Real World Criminals Category:Unreferenced Criminals Category:Real Foreign Criminals Category:Real Life Robbers